Transom Tiedown Straps Needed?

[BRICH1260]

I recently purchased a 2002 Chaparral Sunesta 243 that came with a 2005 Rocket T24 all aluminum trailer. Its a relatively heavy boat, dry weight at about 4300lbs. It did not come with transom tiedown straps. The trailer bunks extend past the rear frame of the trailer about three feet and there is no tiedown hook on the trailer at all. I would need between a 5-6 ft strap to reach the trailer frame from the transom eyelets. The previous owner said the boat was so heavy that it did not need to be tied down. I typically trailer the boat about 30 miles to the lake.

In your opinions, do I need to retrofit this trailer/boat combination with tiedown straps, even if they are 5-6 ft long or is the boat truly heavy enough that they are not needed?

 

[88wellcraft]

Re: Transom Tiedown Straps Needed?

Doesn't matter how heavy your boat is....tie-downs are an absolute necessity.
I'm pretty sure that in most states it's also the law.

 

[zopperman]

Re: Transom Tiedown Straps Needed?

Doesn't matter how heavy your boat is....tie-downs are an absolute necessity.
I'm pretty sure that in most states it's also the law.

X2. They are a great security feature. I usually throw a ratchet strap through the midship cleats too..

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Transom Tiedown Straps Needed?

The previous owner said the boat was so heavy that it did not need to be tied down. I tppically trailer the boat about 30 miles to the lake.

Previous owner didn't have a clue, well, at least his reason didn't... Weight has no bearing in the problem, because added weight also means added inertia. Ever see a semi going down the road with 30+ tons of cargo on a flatbed. Pretty sure they strapped that down!

Anyway, transom straps are personal preference. In most areas transom straps are not required, so its your comfort level. Additionally, with the geometry you are talking about, straps are not going going to do much. In an accident, the boat is going to move forward as much as it wants no matter what.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Transom Tiedown Straps Needed?

Doesn't matter how heavy your boat is....tie-downs are an absolute necessity.
I'm pretty sure that in most states it's also the law.

At least as far as I know, it is NOT law in most states. Granted, its up to the officers discretion to issue an 'unsecured load' ticket. I'm sure there are some specific states that have laws for transom straps, just none that I know of.

 

[zopperman]

Re: Transom Tiedown Straps Needed?

Can you post a pic of your rig?

 

[BRICH1260]

Re: Transom Tiedown Straps Needed?

I`ll try to post some pictures.

I do agree that the long straps would have no benefit to stop the boat from going forward, only from sliding backwards.I could shorten up the strap length by drilling into the bunks and mounting an attachment point there. the only drawback would be that the cypress wooden bunks would not have the holding power of the metal frame of the trailer.

 

[Utahboatnut]

Re: Transom Tiedown Straps Needed?

Are the wood bunks cantalevered past the last bunk support 3 feet? Maybe I am mis reading but that seems very strange if thats the case. Growing up my dad had a 27 footer with twin engines and we always used the transom straps. You have a chain on the bow eye as well right? post some pictures if possible for further help..

 

[CapitanCortez]

Re: Transom Tiedown Straps Needed?

Tie downs are DEFINITELY A NECESSITY!!! about a month ago, I was traveling to the coast with a few friends and we were towing a 24' bay boat with no rear tie-downs. It was early and dark and the guy driving hit the a 3 ft long 4x4 piece of wood as we were turning and it jolted the boat high enough that the boat bounced up off the trailer, shifted to the left, middle of the boat landed on the left bunk and then it fell towards the right of the trailer and screwed up the front winch and the boat got a huge crack from falling on the other bunk.
Moral of the story? Get tie downs...immediately.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Transom Tiedown Straps Needed?

I would just have some tabs or brackets welded onto the frame of the trailer with a hole in them big enough for the tie-down hook. Should be cheap and easy to do.

 

[BRICH1260]

Re: Transom Tiedown Straps Needed?

Are the wood bunks cantalevered past the last bunk support 3 feet? Maybe I am mis reading but that seems very strange if thats the case. Growing up my dad had a 27 footer with twin engines and we always used the transom straps. You have a chain on the bow eye as well right? post some pictures if possible for further help..

Yes, the cypress bunks extend about 3ft beyond the back edge of the trailer. The bunks are approx 3" wide by 12" thick. Here is a the trailers website photo, if you look close you can see the cantilever that i am referring to.
http://www.rocketrailers.com/rocket-features.html

 

[zopperman]

Re: Transom Tiedown Straps Needed?

If you used ratcheting tie downs it would help prevent the boat from koving any direction since they pull the whole rig closer to the trailer. I only use horizontal tie downs when transporting wood on the roof of my truck and I've never had any wood fly forward... I would just throw a strap or two on it instead of modifying your trailer.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Transom Tiedown Straps Needed?

Every state in the union has a "unsecured load" provision in the traffic/trailer codes. If there wasn't, none of the over the road truckers would be using them. Once again, basic high school "physics" comes into play. Tie downs should be installed so they are close to vertical as possible. This limits vertical travel, forward travel, and reverse travel. If the straps are placed way forward, they allow forward motion and the opposite is also true. Here is what happens when a vehicle stops and the boat doesn't. Note that this is likely a sudden stop - not an accident since there appears to be no damage on the truck. How about trashing a couple of out drives -- not to mention damage to the boat itself as it launches up and over the bow stop. Lastly, ever see what happens when a truck takes an exit ramp too fast? Grain, corn, gravel, and any other cargo (heavy or light) can break through the sides of a trailer dumping the contents on the road. The same happens with quick maneuver with a boat trailer and unsecured boat.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Transom Tiedown Straps Needed?

it is absolutely AMAZING to me that anyone would think it was ok to haul anything without securing it

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Transom Tiedown Straps Needed?

Generally speaking, consider a "belly band" strap across the boat and tied down (clipped) to the trailer frame--there are holes for that. Good for small boats (under 20'). Don't think I'd try it with a 24' cruiser!

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Transom Tiedown Straps Needed?

If you used ratcheting tie downs it would help prevent the boat from koving any direction since they pull the whole rig closer to the trailer.

[/QUOTE]

Need to think of the physics on this one... His transom straps go down, and then forward to get to the trailer. If the boat slides forward 6 inches, the straps don't hold it, they are actually now much looser than before. They will do nothing to keep the boat from moving forwards, only up and backwards.

 

[rbh]

Re: Transom Tiedown Straps Needed?

+1 on the strap going over the stern (whole boat) and attached to the frame.

6 inch commercial cargo strap with hooks and ratchet take up.

 

[dockwrecker]

Re: Transom Tiedown Straps Needed?

I'm gonna get bashed for this one but I've never used them on my bigger boats and there's no provision on my transom to tie it to the trailer. I can't use a wrap strap over the aft end because of the seats. I couldn't strap it down without modifications to the boat and the trailer. My boat has a ton of deadrise and cradles nicely into the bunks. Frankly in the 10 years I've had it towing sometimes over 600 miles it's never moved once. I've been shown repeatedly here what can happen when a boat of my size gets loose but after dragging it probably 10,000 miles over the years and having it heavily insured, I guess I'm comfortable with the risk. My proir big boats (27 Celebrity, 26' fiberform, 21 Chris Craft Limited cuddy) were also heavy and had deep deadrise that I didn't worry, the also cradled nicely on the trailer and had sideboards. Definitely some of the other smaller boats I had always had transom straps, I could see them bouncing about back there. I've never bought a roller trailer because I didn't like the fact that there's too much point load vs. bunks over rough roads and too much potential to roll off . I wouldn't feel comfortable about pulling a boat on a roller trailer without tie downs everywhere, nice for launching but too many worries hauling IMHO. I'm not disagreeing with transom tie downs, of course they're beneficial, but not all boats really need them. In my experience, heavier deep vee boats stay right where they land on bunk trailers and sideboards will do the rest.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Transom Tiedown Straps Needed?

I run straps over my drives on the wellcraft every time I trailer even though it is a whopping 3 miles to the river and mostly it is at 35 mph


BTW dockwrecker.... Not slamming, just debating.... I understand your point about being comfortable with the risk and about having insurance to protect you.... The problem with your logic tho is that you don't have the legal right to accept the risk... the requirement to secure your load is to protect ME (figuratively) from you.... If your boat goes through my windshield and kills me, your comfort won't do me any good.

You have been lucky and I agree that the risk is low but straps ARE absolutely required

I am certain that if you try hard enough you can figure out a way too secure your load.

 

[Grandad]

Re: Transom Tiedown Straps Needed?

Apart from collisions that could set the boat free, any repetitive movement between the trailer and the boat could damage the boat. In looking at the picture of your trailer, I note that the bunks are pretty substantial at 3" x 12". Provided the hardware securing the bunks to the trailer is adequate or improved upon, I think you could count on securing the transom to the bunks. They're certainly strong enough to lift the trailer to the boat and prevent hammering on the hull.
In around 1970, I destroyed a new custom finished 15' moulded mahogany runabout in a minor rear end collision in a sudden chain reaction traffic stop. The shock of rear ending the car in front caused the chromed die-cast stem eye to ream out the through bolt threads, allowing the boat to move forward rising up the stem roller. The forward movement stressed the 2 hardened wire hooks on the transom tie-downs til they snapped. The boat, now free of the trailer, was gutted by the winch post and landed on the trunk of my '64 Chevy Super Sport. Just because it hasn't happened to you before doesn't mean it won't happen to you in the future. - Grandad